All or Nothing: The Fearless Performances of Daniel Day-Lewis

On Friday, March 7th, 1986, Manhattan moviegoers opened up newspapers to find glowing reviews and ads for two new films opening that day, My Beautiful Laundrette and A Room with a View. Double takes ensued, for both starred the then-unknown Daniel Day-Lewis—in utterly different guises. Who was this protean talent, this must-see, this one to watch? His lineage indicated a genetic predisposition towards artistic accomplishment; he is the son of Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureate of England, and Jill Balcon, daughter of Ealing Studios mogul Sir Michael Balcon. But Daniel Day-Lewis has made his own name, flooring audiences and critics with his ability to meticulously root characters in a multitude of eras and locales. Revered by his peers and fellow actors, he has earned a record three Best Actor Academy Awards. On the occasion of a long-awaited new starring role for the actor with the Christmas Day release of Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1950s UK-set Phantom Thread—which Day-Lewis has stated will mark his screen farewell—we offer up a holiday bounty of his films.